Abstract: "We measure the large-scale real-space power
spectrum P(k) using luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) and use this measurement to sharpen constraints on
cosmological parameters from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP). We employ a matrix-based power spectrum estimation method using
Pseudo-Karhunen-Loeve eigenmodes, producing uncorrelated minimum-variance
measurements in 20 k-bands of both the clustering power and its anisotropy
due to redshift-space distortions, with narrow and well-behaved window
functions in the range 0.01h/Mpc < k < 0.2h/Mpc. Results from the LRG
and main galaxy samples are consistent, with the former providing higher
signal-to-noise. Our results are robust to omitting angular and radial
density fluctuations and are consistent between different parts of the sky.
They provide a striking confirmation of the predicted large-scale Lambda
CDM power spectrum. Combining only SDSS LRG and WMAP data places robust
constraints on many cosmological parameters that complement prior analyses
of multiple data sets. The LRGs provide independent cross-checks on
Omega(m) and the baryon fraction in good agreement with WMAP. Within the
context of flat Lambda CDM models, our LRG measurements complement WMAP by
sharpening the constraints on the matter density, the neutrino density and
the tensor amplitude by about a factor of 2, giving Omega(m)=0.24 +/- 0.02
(1 sigma), (95%) and r < 0.3 (95%). Baryon oscillations are clearly
detected and provide a robust measurement of the comoving distance to the
median survey redshift z=0.35 independent of curvature and dark energy
properties. Within the Lambda CDM framework, our power spectrum measurement
improves the evidence for spatial flatness, sharpening the curvature
constraint Omega(tot)=1.05 +/- 0.05
from WMAP alone to Omega(tot)=1.003 +/- 0.010. Assuming Omega(tot)=1, the
equation of state parameter is constrained to w=-0.94 +/- 0.09, indicating
the potential for more ambitious future LRG measurements to provide
precision tests of the nature of dark energy. All these constraints are
essentially independent of scales k > 0.1h/Mpc and associated nonlinear
complications, yet agree well with more aggressive published analyses where
nonlinear modeling is crucial."
This 2006 report from Physical Review D was cited 39
times in current journal articles indexed by Clarivate
during July-August 2008. Only two other non-review physics papers published
in the last two years (a pair of reports on the Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe, both recently featured here as "hot") attracted higher
numbers of citations during that two-month period. Prior to the most recent
bimonthly count, citations to the paper have accrued as follows:
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